Advances in semi-conductor processing and logic design have permitted an increase in the amount of logic that may be present on integrated circuit devices. As a result, computer system configurations have evolved from a single or multiple integrated circuits in a system to multiple hardware threads, multiple cores, multiple devices, and/or complete systems on individual integrated circuits. Additionally, as the density of integrated circuits has grown, the power requirements for computing systems (from embedded systems to servers) have also escalated. Furthermore, software inefficiencies, and its requirements of hardware, have also caused an increase in computing device energy consumption. In fact, some studies indicate that computers consume a substantial amount of the entire electricity supply for the United States of America.
As a result, there is a vital need for energy efficiency and conservation associated with integrated circuits. And as servers, desktop computers, notebooks, ultrabooks, tablets, mobile phones, processors, embedded systems, etc. become even more prevalent (from inclusion in the typical computer, automobiles, and televisions to biotechnology), the effect of computing device sales stretches well outside the realm of energy consumption into a substantial, direct effect on economic systems.
When power consumption becomes more of a factor, the trend towards always increasing performance is now being counterbalanced with power consumption concerns. Therefore, many silicon devices, such as processors, are run at a nominal, operating current (i.e. a certain supported frequency), and a ‘turbo frequency’ (i.e. a temporary maximum) frequency is provided for the device. As a result during certain times, the processor may temporarily run at the higher, maximum turbo frequency. Unfortunately, a turbo frequency is typically fused (e.g. permanently selected) for a processor part based on assumptions of both the processor's electrical capability and a platform's electrical capability/configuration. Yet, when a processor designer is fusing a frequency, which may be placed in any number of differently designed platforms, the processor designer usually selects a safe turbo frequency (i.e. a frequency with guard band to ensure it operates in all platforms). Consequently, the turbo frequency may be accurate for the most restrictive platform, but substantial potential performance is often left on the table for more robustly designed platforms.